Tuesday, April 16, 2013

The Little Rock police announced today that Thomas Randall McDonald, 55, an assistant principal at Central High School, had been named in five misdemeanor harassment charges involving students at the school.

Thepolice incident report here was filed Dec. 13 on the basis of a statement from Principal Nancy Rousseau. No charges were filed at that time, but the file was forwarded to the prosecuting attorney for review and warrants were requested April 16. The report says that several students had reported that McDonald had called them out of class, asked them about their sexual activity, remarked on their appearance, calling them "sexy" and hugged them or touched their back.

I've sent Rousseau a question about McDonald's current status. He was issued a citation to appear in district court on the charges. The response, from district spokeswoman Pamela Smith:

The following information was sent to parents via ParentLink email/call today. The employee was not arrested on campus — he had been on leave since December when these allegations were brought to the administration’s attention. We are unable to discuss anything else related to his employment status right now.

Today, the Little Rock Police Department arrested an interim assistant principal who worked at Little Rock Central High following allegations of inappropriate comments made to female students. When the school administration learned of the allegations in December, the employee was immediately removed from campus, placed on administrative leave and LRSD Safety and Security personnel along with the Little Rock Police Department were contacted to begin an immediate investigation. A report was also made to the Department of Human Services. We were requested by legal authorities not to discuss the case so we would not jeopardize the investigation. However, the administration did follow district polices and protocol as per the law.

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